According to preliminary data released by financial data provider refinitiv, global M & A transactions in 2019 totaled about $3.9 trillion, the fourth strongest year for M & A activities, just below $3.96 trillion in 2018.
In 2019, total cross-border M & A transactions reached US $1.2 trillion, down 25% year-on-year, to the lowest level since 2013. Rising geopolitical uncertainty and increased scrutiny by regulators have led many executives and boards to be uneasy about expanding beyond their home markets.
"Given macroeconomic risks such as trade tariffs and brexit, companies are more comfortable doing business in their own regions this year, so cross-border M & A has declined," said Chris Ventresca, CO head of global M & A at JPMorgan.
On the other hand, large-scale transactions have increased because of the strong trend of stock price and low financing cost, which promote enterprises to pursue transformative acquisitions.
According to Luft, the number of M & A deals worth more than $10 billion this year increased 8% year-on-year to 43, the highest since 2015. There are about 21 M & A transactions with a scale of more than $20 billion, accounting for nearly a quarter of the global transaction volume in 2019.
"The main feature of this year's M & A deals is their size, especially in the US, where most of the big deals take place," said Gilberto Pozzi, CO head of global M & A at GS. N.
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